Cherry Hill, N.J. — The path to Syracuse started in a two-car garage 20 minutes from Rodney Williams' home here just across the Walt Whitman Bridge. Inside is a treasure chest of training equipment: medicine balls, a glute bridge barbell, weight tree, deadlift blocks and 550 pounds of iron plates, some of which are placed onto a home-made sled constructed with an old back SUV tire.

The garage where Syracuse football recruit Rodney Williams trains at with Mike Volkmar.Photo courtesy of Mike Volkmar

This is where Williams, a defensive back prospect from Cherry Hill West High School who will sign his national letter of intent to play football at Syracuse on Feb. 5, started sculpting his body for the rigorous camp circuit last summer that culminated with his scholarship offer to Syracuse, and it is where he will again return in the weeks leading up to his arrival on campus in order to be in tip-top shape for the team's summer conditioning workouts.

The garage's owner is Mike Volkmar, a strength and conditioning coach at Peddie School in Mount Laurel, N.J. A four-year catcher for Le Moyne College, Volkmar worked in the Washington Nationals organization with Double-A Harrisburg and at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., before relocating to the Northeast. When the two connected last April, Volkmar immediately put Williams on a nutrition plan and started acceleration work, loading 135 pounds of weight onto the sled to aid the burst of the first six steps of his 40 time.

He had two months to whip Williams in shape for the high-pressure summer camp grind, a critical time for high school recruits to garner scholarships offers from Division I colleges. Now more than eight months after the two first met, Volkmar has a new challenge on his hands with Williams. He drew up detailed workouts that frequently change and crafted YouTube videos showing step-for-step the technique for each exercise, ensuring Williams would not develop bad habits in between the next time they work out in person this spring.

He must strengthen the leg Williams broke back in October, prematurely ending his senior season. Then he must prepare Williams as best as possible in order to see his freshman year goal come to fruition.

"I want to be able to play next year," Williams said.

***

Here is Williams sprinting toward the end zone, an open field ahead of him and one more cut standing between him and a touchdown. He's at the 5-yard line when his left leg gives out and he collapses, hitting the ground hard thinking he was kicked. Making matters worse, bodies pile on top of him after the ball pops out.

His day is over after the training staff explains he has no transition speed, relegating him to the sideline on this late October afternoon as his team squeaks out a victory. The next morning, a Sunday, it takes Williams 30 minutes to get to the bathroom, prompting a trip to the emergency room for X-rays. It confirmed Williams' worst fears: His fibula bone snapped in two places. His season was over.

It was the second straight year Williams' season was cut short because of injury. The start of his junior season was delayed several weeks because of a hamstring injury, sabotaging his explosiveness and opportunity to cobble together a highlight tape showing his maximum potential.

No surgery was needed on the broken fibula. Williams wore an air cast for close to three months and was limited to upper-body strength training three days a week until the bone healed. In mid-December, he was cleared for post-rehab workouts, contacted Volkmar and started a high-repetition program to build up the strength endurance of the leg muscle. He was given a 10-exercise circuit to strengthen up his quads, hamstrings and glutes using only his body weight.

Williams returned to the basketball team last week and has started an in-season strength program incorporating some barbell squats, barbell front squats, barbell deadlifts and barbell Romanian deadlifts. There is no better speed and agility training, Volkmar said, than basketball practice, and Williams will also run track later this spring. The competition of both sports and the ability to react and learn from pressure situations are the better alternative to becoming "robotic" in the weight room year-round like athletes who specialize in one sport.

But for Williams, basketball and track are a distraction until he returns to the garage.

"I'm itching for real workouts after this," Williams said.

***

Here is Williams sprinting down the basketball court in transition, the braids on the back of his head dancing as he aggressively drives to the hoop and crashes into a defender, landing hard on the floor after converting a lay-up.

His coiffure is not unlike former safety Shamarko Thomas, an underrated high school prospect out of Virginia Beach who transformed into a fourth-round draft pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers last year largely because of an eye-opening combine performance made possible by a relentless, near-legendary work ethic in the weight room.

Once basketball and track season end, it will be a full-out 60- to 75-minute session four days a week in Volkmar's garage. Monday and Thursday will typically be days spent on lower body, and Tuesday and Friday will focus on upper body. These will incorporate plyometric training, broad jumps and resistant running, where Williams will pack more than 220 pounds onto the homemade tire sled to build strength. He will also run up and down nearby hills.

A simple DIY sled Mike Volkmar made in his garage in 10 minutes.Photo courtesy of Mike Volkmar

Volkmar pre-tested Williams last year before he hit the camp circuit, hand-timing him on a grass field shortly after he returned from summer basketball practice. He said Williams ran a 4.7/4.8 40-time and shaved off about 0.2 seconds when he sprinted in front of college coaches at various camps.

He became a standout defensive back at the Northeast clinics but often heard excuses for why a staff couldn't offer him. Pittsburgh and Rutgers liked him but wanted to hold out for other prospects. Penn State told him it did not have enough scholarships because of the NCAA sanctions.

Now, five months before he arrives at Syracuse, Williams, who will likely start out at nickelback when he reports this summer, is fully healed from his broken leg and counting the days before he can ramp up the final workouts before the next chapter begins.

"I want to try to be most prepared when I come there," he said.

Follow Nate Mink on Twitter @MinkNate or email him at nmink@syracuse.com.